In addition to tattooing onto fake skin, i was also advised to practice tattooing onto fruit skin, which more closely resembles the sensation of tattooing real skin.

A combination of gala melons and bananas where used, to provide a variety of textures. I was informed that the sensation of tattooing melon skin shared similarities to the sensation of tattooing elderly skin or skin that had been subject to harsh weather conditions, and toughened as a result.

The initial practice was executed on bananas and completed during the time that lettering practice was also being practiced. Some script that was originally drawn by studio artist, Dan Hartley, was applied as a stencil, but proved difficult due to the shape of the banana. It was concluded that opting for freehand would be more useful, as the design could accommodate for the shape.​The word ‘Saskia’ was applied multiple times on the banana, and attempted as a tattoo with varying degrees of success. Lettering and text are often jobs assigned to beginner artists, which was the rationale behind the use of text for the exercise. The emphasis on drawing text, and not writing it became true of both tattooing it and designing it, with no distinction between processes employed between tattooing words and pictures.

A free-hand approach to the drawing on melon skin was also applied, as the texture of the melon skin would not allow for a stencil to be transferred. In contrast to the banana skin in which the pressure of the machine was very sparse, the pressure applied to the melon skin was slightly firmer, almost carving out the area making contact with the needle and replacing it with ink. The designs drawn onto the melon skin where from Sailor Jerry flash, and collectively resembled the appearance of traditional tattoos on a limb, which are characteristically seemingly randomly placed.

As tattooing practice continued to progress, various drawing exercises where also undertaken simultaneously. As opposed to those set by my mentors at the studio that have been previously discussed, these exercises generally where self-initiated, and where responsive to some of the ideas that arose in response to my embeddedness in the studio. ​Influenced by some of the works produced during the process of self-initiated drawing tasks the next iteration of tattooed banana skin was executed. Some initial attempts at lettering where attempted, following on from the script exercises previously discussed. The outcome appeared to demonstrate technical skill development, when contrasted to the previous tattooed banana. This was in part due to the flatter surface of the skin, as the edible part of the banana was discarded, providing a flatter surface to work on.

The next investigations involved employing some of the technical skills practiced, combined with the introduction of the aesthetic sensibility I am familiar with as a designer. Much of my illustrative work is inspired by patterns and shapes present in psychedelic art works and experiences - some of the motifs that have been developed over time where then adapted into tattooing.

The visual properties of these pieces could be described as adhering to aspects of the tribal taxonomy of tattooing while also adopting elements of the avant garde. Investigations of such a nature initiated the question of if new tattoo taxonomies may be developed as a result of reflective practice? If so, when may these be appropriate, and what are their defining characteristics? As a preliminary frame of reference, the term ‘PsyTri’ was coined to describe the psychedelic tribal aesthetic of the pieces. ​These pieces where created without the use of a stencil or freehand, with the design being tattooed directly onto the surface of the skin. This approach allowed for an element of spontaneity and flow to be present in the design, that would be restricted by the traditional approaches to tattooing of following a precise guide.

At the period in which the banana skin tattoo’s where being created, the tasks set by the studio put greater emphasis on my own initiation of concepts or subject matter to pursue. Though this was never formally articulated, the absence of strict direction appeared to express a sense of desire for independence to be cultivated. This notion of independent growth is integral to improving confidence within tattooing, and positioning of the self in situ with the wider discipline.

Adam McDade

The imagery shown depicts the production of my first full tattoo ever produced (though not on human skin). The task involved taking a piece of what is referred to as ‘flash’ (pre-drawn tattoo designs that traditionally hang on the walls of tattoo shops to be selected by clients) by Sailor Jerry - a central and seminal figure in traditional Western tattooing, and tattooing as a broader discipline.

Traditional tattooing can be considered simple and graphic in aesthetic, as designs where created in keeping with the capabilities of the available tools of the time (early 20th century). Contemporary tattoo machines are significantly more sophisticated in their design, which has lead to new aesthetic possibilities within tattooing practice. Traditional tattooing remains as a timeless aesthetic however, and is considered relatively simple to execute (though more difficult to design). The task was assigned in order to progress from the mark making stages of the previous fake skin explorations, into tattooing a design to be considered for its visual properties. The traditional Sailor Jerry rose was deemed appropriate for the early level of competence, and provided a strong foundation to practice lining, ‘whip-shading’ and colour packing. Lining refers to the black line that is the basis of the tattoo design. Good linework is judged on consistency and ‘cleanness’ (i.e. no evidence of wobble in the line, a consistent width of line, etc.).

‘Whip-Shading’ is the name given to the technique to produce gradated tone usinga tattoo machine. This is done by lowering the voltage of the tattoo machine from that which would be suitable for lining (a higher voltage), to allow the shape of the needles to create an aesthetic comparable to dots. The needle used to produce line- work may often be changed for what is referred to as a ‘magnum’ - a larger grouping of needles arranged in such a way that they cover a greater surface area of the skin. The term ‘whip’ refers to the motion of the hand to create a sense of gradation - the needle is inserted and pushed away from the surface at a fast pace, comparable to techniques used with a dry brush and ink on paper.

During the tattooing of the fake skin, the booth (the area in which the tattoo takes place) was set up as it would have been had the tattoo been on human skin.

This involves wearing gloves and using a medical grade cleaning product to wipe down all surfaces that may be touched by the tattooist or the client during the process. These may be the trolley (a metal unit that holds the filled ink caps, power supply, kitchen towels etc.), arm rest, and/or the massage bed. ​Once cleaned, the gloves are then binned and changed, before re-spraying the surfaces. This acts as an extra hygiene precaution, while also functioning as an adhesive for cling film that is then wrapped around each unit. Once the trolley is wrapped, a stack of kitchen paper and a packet of baby wipes are then placed on top of the trolley, which are used to wipe away ink/bodily secretions that occur in the tattooing process. A disposable cup filled with filtered water and often anti-bacterial soap/witch-hazel is also added, to rinse needles when changing co- lours of inks using the same needle.

A small amount of petroleum jelly is then applied to the station using a tongue dispenser, which acts as both a adhesive for ink caps and sometimes as a moisture agent that can be applied to the clients skin once an area of tattooing has been completed. Ink caps are placed onto the area where the petroleum jelly has been spread, which are filled with the inks that will be used for the tattoo. A disposable razor is also applied to the station, to shave any hair that is in the area of the tattoo, prior to the tattooing process beginning. A yellow medical waste bag is secured to the trolley using either micro-pore tape or magnets, which is disposed of after each client in a medical waste bin (though only a regular bin bag was used for tattooing of fake skin). The machine power supply is then ‘bagged’ with a disposable plastic wrapping, in addition to the cables that are attached to the tattoo machine. Once wrapped, the machine is placed on the trolley. The tattoo machine is often also wrapped with cling film, and is cleaned with alcohol wipes after each use. The ‘tube’ for tattooing, which is the attachment to the machine that holds the needle and is gripped during the tattooing process, is either disposable or can be cleaned using an autoclave.Tattooing a full design similar to that pictured, from outline to finish, may take many artists around 90 minutes, however due to my inexperience it took around 4 hours. What was learned in the initial exercises was implemented in regards to hold- ing the machine in such a way that the finger regulates the depth, working from the bottom left to top right of design to avoid rubbing off the stencil, and being sure to stretch the area with the non-tattooing hand so that the area being tattooed is taught, thus saturated.

Adam McDade

​I had been told on numerous occasions that my apprenticeship was soon to accelerate by the studio founder, Bez. This was clarified the day that he ordered fake skin in for me to practice tattooing on.

Around this time, I was generously gifted an Ego tattoo machine from an artist at the Studio, Pete. Ego is the brand of tattoo machines created by Bez which are created ergonomically with different iterations to match the variety of styles of working for tattooists. The machine given to me at this point was one of the original Ego machines, which many of the artists working in the studio had never seen before. The knowledge of the machines rarity enriched it with a level of significance that made my possession of it seem particularly important to me.

To set up for tattooing of the fake skin, I was asked to take out one of the stencil exercises that I had produced previously and use it as a transfer. Bez selected a design by the artist Dan Hartley, which was a small devil holding a large capital letter ‘G’. The design was comically tacky, which added a level of light-heartedness to the exercise that seemed to reduce my anxiety to some extent.

To create a stencil normally, the design would normally be photocopied and placed in a treble layered sheet of transparent paper, carbon paper, and a yellow-toned paper that the design is placed on face-up. The three sheets with the design inside are then placed in a plastic wallet which is put through a thermal image transfer machine. The machine can be run at a variety of speeds, with the faster speeds producing the weakest stencil (more suited to smaller, delicate designs) and the slower speeds producing the strongest stencil (most suited to more bold and graphic designs).

Once the stencil has been put through the machine the trio of sheets is removed, and the top layer of translucent paper has an imprint of the design that was placed onto the bottom sheet. For this stencilling technique, the image was drawn manually however, as the exercise was already completed of creating a carbon copy. The procedure for hand stencilling is similar, however the design is simply placed onto the carbon paper and traced (firmly) with a ballpoint (or other hard nib) pen, with the reverse of the design then holding a carbon copy which can be applied to the skin, leaving a purple stencil as a map for the tattoo.

The fake skin is particularly thin and beige in colour, and can be compared to ‘Bernard Matthews wafer thin turkey ham’. Before applying a stencil, the skin had to be placed onto an object to hold it. Another artist in the studio was once sent a prosthetic arm to tattoo a design on (known as a ‘pound of flesh’), so the fake skin was wrapped around the fake arm, and taped with duct tape. The texture of the skin was repellent to any adhesive of the tape, so it proved difficult to secure the skin onto the arm.

Once the fake skin was on the arm, a small amount of stencil fluid was applied until tacky. The stencil fluid tends to be white in the bottle but transparent once applied to the skin, and acts as a means to hold the carbon copy onto the skin. The design was then applied, to the fake skin slowly, and peeled away from the corner to avoid any ‘smudging’. Once successfully applied, the design then had to be left for a few minutes to dry before any tattooing could begin. This was in order to avoid any smudging while tattooing. I was told at this point that this would generally be the point when the tattooist would go outside for a cigarette (though in my case, I just waited as I don’t smoke).

Despite there being no potential for any health hazards with the tattoo being applied to fake skin, I set up the booth as I would for a client. The bed and trolley where wrapped with cling film, and the machine and cable where bagged and protected accordingly. Ink caps filled with black ink where placed onto the cling film covering the trolley, which was adhered by petroleum jelly. The fake arm holding the skin was placed on the cling film protected bed, and the machine was switched on.

The first thing I noticed when holding the machine was the unfamiliar vibrating sensation, coupled with the unusually shaped instrument in my hand. There are two types of tattoo machines; the traditional coil machine, which is a heavy and loud, or the contemporary rotary machine, which is much lighter in weight and quieter in sound. While many tattooists have now opted for rotary machines, some more traditional artists have continued with coil machines, which seems to be down to personal preference. The Ego machine that I was holding was a rotary machine, which had a tube attached which had an attachment for a variety of needle cartridges. The piece I was to attempt was a thick-lined, traditional piece, and so the machine was set with a ‘9-liner’ (9 small needles grouped together).

With the supportive presence of a number of tattooists surrounding me, I attempted my first line into the design on the skin. The ink that was applied to the machine dispersed rapidly, obscuring the area I was tattooing, making it particularly difficult to see what I had tattooed. I was told this is something you get used to and intuitively understand in time. The fell of the vibrating weighted machine in my hand was so foreign that getting over the discomfort of that was a task alone, with utilising it to make marks with precision being a separately difficult task. The texture of the fake skin caused much of the stencil to disappear I was tattooing it.

As I tattooed, I was advised by Pete how to hold the machine so that I had one finger guiding the needle as it traced over the skin, allowing for a consistent depth. I was also advised to attempt to hold the machine upright to ensure a consistent line weight, and how to create a line that appears connected but may have been completed in multiple passes. This was done by continuing to line once the hand had been taken away from the skin in a position before the previous line had ended. I noticed the inaccuracies in the design, and so spent some time on the areas of skin around the stencil practicing line work. I was informed prior to the exercise that its purpose was merely in obtaining experience in holding the machine, and not in creating a visually pleasing tattoo. Having experimented with the line work, I realised how challenging it was to create a clean appearing tattoo and how many factors where to be considered to do it right. Unlike drawing and illustration, the canvas is human skin with totally different properties to paper, meaning stencils may disappear through wiping, the skin may get over-walked, and the canvas may move from the pain they are being inflicted. This exercise taught me how to both get used to holding a machine, as well as how to understand the logic of those responsible for bad tattoos.

The images included are of my first 2 attempts on fake skin – the first of which has been described above (and is likely visually apparent). The area around the imagery that is of a lighter colour is the part of the fake skin that has been covered by tape, with the darker areas being the parts where ink has been wiped off from the tattooed line and resulted in staining. The second sheet of skin was mainly as a means of the consideration of lines and gaining comfort with the machine again, and included motifs and images drawn by Bez for the purpose of the task (in addition to one of the flash designs for Friday the 13th created by the artist Stacey Green).

The fake skin practice is integral in the gaining of tacit knowledge that simply couldn’t be learned without empirical understanding. I am writing retrospectively and have since tattooed 3 more pieces of fake skin with increasing success – the pieces shown are artefacts of my very early stages of incompetence that I am now in the process of attempting to better. Tattooing practice is integral to the discipline and the reason it functions as a commercial art form, however there is so much more to the process than the act of doing. My time up until holding a machine has been focussed on gaining the necessary understanding of studio functioning that is a key part of the job. The use of a machine discussed here is the seminal moment of the next iteration of my career progression.

The first piece of fake skin - note the unfinished design due to the disappearing stencil, and cuts in the skin due to heavy handedness/poor quality surface.

Fake Skin sheet 2 - The heavy handedness was still present (as is apparent). The marks around the side where used to test how the fake skin might be utilised to protect areas of the skin in lazer tattoo removal.

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Beyond the Epidermis

​Adam McDade

A document of my experience working as an apprentice Tattoo Artist at Triplesix Studios, while also serving as a platform for my AHRC NPIF funded research as a PhD student at the University of Sunderland.